We look flat because there is no style of play, it's simple side ways/backwards passes till either Lallana or Sterling give it a go and end up losing the ball, not one time Balotelli has been put through or even attempted too. The only time we had a player have a good through ball was for Borini and that ball was from????? Balotelli.
Our attack looks flat because we're missing both Suarez and Sterling, and we have an off form Coutinho. We're bedding in new attackers into this system - there will be teething problems. Sooner we get Sturridge, Allen and Coutinho back in the team, the better - we have made a lot of changes this season but a lot of them have been forced due to injuries. The 3 players I mentioned are all intense, press well and mobile. Re. Balotelli - I'm not his biggest fan but he hasn't done much wrong. He was never gonna be the Suarez type replacement but instead the phyiscal presnece, target man.
Balotelli needs someone to create him a chance or at least have someone give him the ball. AC Milan basically made there whole team be about him which resulted in twenty plus goals for the Italian in what was a very average team.
I heard something earlier which I think is spot on. Balotelli isn't a bad buy at all tbf, but what is being missed is not just Suarez's goals, but his workrate and the way he pressed the defenders on the ball so high up the pitch. Balotelli will never do that, and I'm not sure you will replace it with any of your forwards at the moment.
To be fair Treble, Sturridge will when he is fit and Stirling will also. They just don`t have a midfield, it leaves a 40 yard patch of pitch that the opposition can just stroll into and control.
We look flat because our style was all about flexibility, movement and pace. None of which Balotelli has. Therefore, to suit the star signing, we have to change style. We don't usually play with wingers, brod has tried 4231 twice already this season and we've look absolutely ****ing awful. Today he tried 352 and although it was an improvement on the previous twenty minutes, it was ****ing awful. So why has brod tried it? To get the best out the star signing. I'm convinced Mario was a panic buy. He simply doesn't fit with how we've been playing or what brod said he wanted. As I said, nothing sharing Mario, he just doesn't fit and it will take time for the to change / adjust
Pretty much what I'm getting at. Work rate should be the number one priority when scouting a player. If they don't have work rate then don't sign them! Berbotov was a fantastic player but lazy as ****, I'd rather have Borini!
No, Lavezzi who runs as much as any other forward around and is able to create and score goals. Maybe not thirty a season but he'd get as many of each as Borini and Lambert combined. (Notice I didn't say Balotelli despite believing he'd outscore and assist him too)
So, what you are all saying here is your manager can`t even pick a player who will fit his system/style of play?
They will have the energy and desire and they will press BUT they won't have the intelligence or technical ability to hassle and actually win the ball in the same way imo. Agree about the midfield problems.
The different is he played with wingers, leaving the defense to exposed and spread out. We played wing backs and you could easily call it a back 5.
You mean Brendan played full backs as wingers and LVG played wingers as full backs? so was it 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 ?
It means we had the defensive areas covered. United didnt. I dont see any logic in you defending the system. it was a disaster for you that you cannot deny. You have now moved on from it. There is a different between how we used it and you guys used it. It helped us today, though it wasnt enough. It did not work for you.
